The Chilly Turkey is a charity ride many of us have worked on and/or participated in for 10 years now on the Saturday before Thanksgiving. It's the 2nd of two "book end" charity rides that surround the traditional riding season - the other being the R-Ides of March event, held the Saturday before March 15th each year. 100% of the proceeds are sent to Riders for Health.   This year we initiated a 3rd event, creating a triangle of charity rides from Ride West that benefit Riders for Health.

For information on why donating to Riders for Health is a good idea, please visit www.riders.org.  Riders For Health is supported by motorcyclists all over the world, and, due to the backgrounds and friendships of its founders, also by most Moto GP, SBK, and Formula 1 teams.

Chilly Turkey X was a lot of fun. With great timing we slid it in before the crashing rain storms sweeping through the area since.  We had 19 bikes and 1 pickup truck on the route, and 21 people total.  I toted the door prizes to the dinner at the end in my car, as their were too many to be carried on anything less than a BIG sidecar.  Thanks to Ride West BMW, Café Veloce, Rok Straps, and David Hough, who provided a wealth of great prizes.  With ticket sales and donations from caring folks who wanted to donate but could not make the event, we raised over $520.

Here's the [roster], and in the media section at the end of this newsletter you'll find a terrific file of 60 photos taken by Gary Stebbins.  If you look through the [photos] you'll be motivated to go on the next one  (March 9th of 2013) as it is pretty obvious these folks are having a heck of a good time!

The weather folks predicted highs in the mid-40s, which would certainly be doable.  I knew we were in trouble as we descended down Seattle Hill Road, as the freezing fog had yet to burn off the valley floor. I watched in horrified fascination as the temp gauge on my trusty BMW F 800R dropped, and dropped, and eventually settled at 34.7 for long periods of time.  Keeping a watchful eye for icy patches  (I know that does not work, but still) we meandered on. 

An amusing sight at an intersection was an approaching trio of cars - Ferrari,  Lamborghini, and Honda NSX. The Lambo's popping exhaust as he downshifted for the corner provided some warmth, at least mentally.

I paused at the onset of Ben Howard to see how people were doing. Samayya, with no windshield or heated grips on her little Suzuki, was having a fun time but was losing the feeling in her fingers. Ahmed was berating himself for an incorrect choice of gloves.  With that in mind, I chose to stop for lunch at one of the earlier options, so we could eat and warm up.  After lunch, we chose to abandon some of the planned route, which would have taken us further up and into a wet cloud bank that might have snow.  Instead, we pretty much retraced our route in the reverse direction, adding a jaunt out the dead end Mann Road.  Paul Fison made a video of himself passing everyone on his BMW K 1600 GT, which appears as a link at the end of this newsletter.  You'll love the German opera!

Back at Ride West the weather was as promised -  45 degrees or so.  A good time as had by all!

First impression - not as cramped for me as most scooters I've tried.  Once I put my feet forward as intended, there was even more room!  A step up behind the rider perch offers good lower back support as well, and the electronically adjustable windshield allows you to create a silent and protected cocoon, or (all the way down) a breezy and more fun ride - my preference.

There's massive storage space under the seat,  accessed by pushing the ignition key in and turning. One way releases the seat, and the other releases the fuel cap.  There's plenty space for your helmet and a lot of groceries or whatever. [READ MORE]

**PLEASE CLICK [HERE] TO READ FULL REVIEW OF THE 2013 C650 GT.

Go, Just Go Anywhere!

1. With Team Ride West, more rides, dinners, and events than anyone else.

2. More in-store sales, swap meets, seminars, classes, etc. than anyone else.

3. Ability to purchase insurance for your bike, home, and auto - all in-house.

4. More demo bikes, longer demo rides, and even guided multi-bike demo rides.

5. Our track school and track day support program.

6. Service Department capable and happy to work on any brand.

7. Wide assortment of used bikes of all brands.